Early education
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© UNICEF/Romania00339/Langenstrasse |
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Placement Centre children supported by UNICEF |
Crèches for children under the age of three have reduced their activities in the past few years because parents are unable to afford these and lack the interest in this form of child care. Many people are similarly unaware of the importance of early education, which results in them not sending their children to kindergarten. In contrast, the pre-school enrolment rate for 3-6 year-olds increased in recent years (78% in the 2007-2008 school year). However, there are significantly lower rates among disadvantaged communities, including rural and poor Roma communities. The Open Society Foundation’s Roma Inclusion Barometer 2007 indicated that pre-school attendance among Roma children is a mere 20%, compared to 52% for non-Roma children.
A very positive trend in the 2007-2008 school year is that the rate of first-graders who attended a pre-school education programme reached 91.2%, from 85.5% in the 2001-2002 school year). Moreover this rate is higher among children in rural areas, up to 91.8%, compared to 90.6% in the 2007-2008 reference year, showing a reversal of the situation existing in 2001-2002.
A 2006 Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) survey also found that 25% of parents do not have adequate knowledge for assessing the psychological development of their infants. Few fathers are directly involved in the care and education of their children, especially of those aged 0-3.
UNICEF promotes the mainstreaming of children with disabilities. Some efforts were made by the Ministry of Education several years ago to integrate disabled children in regular schools, but these had not been fully prepared beforehand to cope with the special needs of these children. UNICEF is committed to following up this situation in order to identify major challenges and needs for proper mainstreaming of disabled children.
Institutions offer no early intervention and stimulation, special psycho-pedagogy training, and there is a lack of necessary materials for children under the age of three with disabilities and other special needs.
